USPS employees protest Trump administration at Missouri Capitol

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)

The American Postal Service Workers Union held a rally Thursday at the Capitol, calling it “Hands Off Our Public Postal Service."

The rally began at noon inside the Missouri Capitol and was held by Area Local 7065.

Other rallies were held across the country, including one in Columbia at the post office on Walnut Street.

The protests are a response to reports that the Trump administration is preparing to take over the United States Postal Service. Trump has said he may put the United States Postal Service under the control of the Commerce Department.

President of the American Postal Workers Union Erin Linn organized the rallies in Columbia and Jefferson City and united USPS on one message "U.S. mail is not for sale."

The union says the Trump administration is planning an "illegal and hostile takeover" of the postal service and argues that it threatens the stability of jobs and the public services provided.

Last week, USPS and the Department of Government Efficiency entered an agreement to help with Postmaster General Louis DeJoy's "Delivering for America Plan." The plan aims to improve overall operations, reduce costs and grow revenue.

"In order for them to do that  they'll have to split it up, they will have to raise prices and reduce employee benefits and also reduce service to the customers," Linn said.

USPS employee Ana Larson has worked for the agency for three years.

"That is why it's the United States Postal Service and not the United States postal company, we are not suppose to be for profit," she said.

Employees said if the Trump administration's plans go through, everyone in the country would be impacted, especially rural areas.

'Delivering to someone's grandma's door 45 minutes down a gravel road in the middle of the road that is not profitable, a private corporation is not going to send a mule into the grand canyon but we do," Larson said. "If you drive 45 minutes out of town to St. Elizabeth or St. Anthony, Amazon doesn't deliver to some of those gravel roads. Neither does ups, Fedex, DHL, they hand their packages off to us and we deliver them."

Bettina Young has worked for USPS for 30 years and said the service is a lifeline for millions of people.

"The United Postal Service has been good to the people, the employees, everything, we need our job, we want our job, the people need our services we deliver mail, checks everything we are dependable upon,' Young said.

In a statement last week the APWU National Executive Board said, "members likely heard the recent news of an agreement between the Postmaster General and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), headed by the un-elected billionaire Elon Musk, and not established by Congress. It is no surprise that DOGE has set its sights on the people’s Postal Service.

"The APWU position is clear: There is no legitimate role for DOGE in the USPS or any other Federal agency. The public Postal Service was created by Congress as an independent government agency with robust oversight from the Office of Inspector General, the Postal Regulatory Commission, and the Board of Governors, as well as Congressional Committees."

In a letter last week, DeJoy said he plans to cut 10,000 workers and billions of dollars from the USPS budget. According to the USPS website, more than 533,000 people were employed by USPS in 2024.

Rallies are also scheduled in Columbia and Jefferson City for Sunday afternoon.